Choices
by x ForgetMeNot
Summary: Hei reflects on his past actions and wonders if he had done the right thing. Set after Season 2. One-shot.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Darker Than Black.

**Summary:** Hei reflects on his past actions and wonders if he had done the right thing. Set after Season 2. One-shot.

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"_Do you have something you'd risk your life to protect?" -S1Ep19_

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**Choices **

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He made his choice, but was it the right one?

He closed his eyes as he remembered what had transpired earlier today. He had gone to the place where Section 3 was keeping Yin in confinement; however, by the time he had arrived he was too late. Her inner spirit had already awakened and had gone to meet Izanagi, leaving behind her physical body as an empty shell.

Had it not been for him, Yin would have remained sleeping. Izanami would not have awakened. The world would have not been at risk. He now knew what he needed to do.

"Yin," Hei said softly as his dark blue eyes observed her unmoving body. Attached to her bare, pale skin were numerous wires to monitor her internal activity and a ventilator to allow her to breathe while she was in her comatose state inside the machine created tomb. "Let's end it all." With that, he sprinted towards the center of Hell's Gate.

He couldn't help but slow down as he made his way toward the center of the Gate. Witnessing what was unfolding before him was Yin, no, Izanami currently in sitting position, floating in the air, and was surrounded by the souls she had captured. Shion and July's body lay on the flower beds below, their bodies no longer inhabited by their souls.

Hei walked over and gently took the gun which was aimed at the floating girl who had been indifferently observing the spectacle below her from Suou's hands, comforting Suou as her memories started to disappear now that the meteor core has shattered.

"You won't need this where you're going," Hei had said gently. The gun vanished as it fell from Suou's hands and landed on nearby flowers. Hei held the crying redhead close to him.

"Where are we going, now? We'll always be together, right? We can continue our journey, right?" The young girl asked sadly.

"Yea, that's right," he had replied, refusing to look at her.

"You're lying." This caused Hei to move his head slightly before replying firmly, "I'm not lying. I'll always be by your side." He gently placed his hand on Suou's face to reassure her. Suou began to smile as she felt his warm hand.

"Hei." With that last word, Suou's soul had left her. It was now travelling to the duplicate Earth created by her brother Shion, where July was waiting. Hei laid Suou's body on the ground next to July's before he felt a soft hand on his right shoulder.

"Hei." He turned around and saw her.

"Yin." She was separated from Izanami for the time being who was dressed in black and remained airbourne. The girl he was facing was attired in white, which perfectly showed the contrast between the dark and light side of her. Both, however, had the same purple eyes and white hair, though their hair was currently glowing blue and floating at the moment.

"It's not too late," Izanami stated indifferently, standing.

"Kill me," finished Yin, half-smiling at her old friend. Hei returned the smile, knowing exactly what he needed to do, and placed his hand on her. He could feel his powers returning. Yin continued to maintain eye contact with him, relieved and at peace, until a flash of bright white light engulfed them.

When it cleared, Hei knew he had succeeded.

He had used his sister Pai's ability to alter the molecular structure to separate Yin from Izanami, which brought them to where they were now.

Walking through a grassy field, carrying the unconscious girl in his arms, Hei had been examining the vivid blue sky that seemed to have returned to normal. He then directed his attention to the being in his arms.

She looked graceful, pure. Eyes closed, currently unclothed, her pale skin complimented by her long silvery hair that continued to fall downwards toward the ground due to the pressures of gravity, the same hair moving in constant motion, swaying back and forth by Hei's movements. With a half-smile on her lips, her face reflected what she must have felt: at peace.

Hei was still struggling to do the same. He wondered, why couldn't he bring himself to kill her? That was what she had wanted him to do before this problem had blown out of proportion. However, he could not bring himself to do it despite her pleading.

They were standing outside the building where Claude had kidnapped her. There appeared to be two Yin's. One was Izanami, the other was Yin. He felt his body being controlled as his arm unwillingly took out the blade hidden in his clothing. The Yin he knew tried to stab herself with the blade using Hei's arm, but he resisted. He couldn't bring himself to kill her.

"Stop this!" he pleaded, but Yin continued, responding, "Hei, please… I can't hold it back any longer."

"I c-can't!" He shook his head, refusing to do so, not looking at her.

"I don't want to hurt Hei anymore," Yin responded, which caused Hei to look up at her surprised before composing himself.

"I can't. I don't want to lose anyone dear to me anymore!" He refused to look at her. Yin closed her eyes in resignation, then opened them, determined as she did what she thought was best. She pushed Hei away from her, bid him farewell, and separated herself from him.

Hei's mind jumped back to when he was first ordered to kill Yin by the Syndicate due to his team being targeted by other contractors. Yin was a liability. However, when pushed come to shove, Hei couldn't bring himself do it. He could have taken the easy way and let the construction building parts fall on Yin, but he saved her and told her to run as far away as possible. This did not go unnoticed by his other team members. As Mao had put it, "Once we find Yin, you aren't going to have a problem killing her, are you?"

"She's just a doll right?" Hei had replied, gruffly as he was internally struggling as to whether to kill Yin or not.

"If that's so, why did you save her back there?"

Later that day, Hei realized that he no longer viewed Yin as a mere doll, but as a person. He couldn't kill her and had instead allowed Yin to decide what she had wanted to do: leave here as Kirsi with Castinen or stay as Yin and remain partners with him, Mao, and Huang. She had chosen the latter.

His thoughts traced once more back to the time when he and Yin helped Kenji escape with his doll. Yin came to help by her own free will. When she was helping the doll change, Hei was conversing with Kenji as he didn't understand why Kenji would risk his life over a doll.

"You might well live out your life, fearing attack, never able to stay in one place," Hei had warned Kenji.

"I'm ready for that," was Kenji's response.

"Where will you stay? Even if you can find a job, what will you do with her while you work? You can't do this alone."

"I'll find a way," Kenji replied, determined to make this work, although he was uncertain what he would do.

"Why her?" Hei had to know. "She neither thinks nor speaks. Why are you so fixated on her?"

"Surely you have something like that, Li-san. Someone you want to help, regardless of logic or reason. You really can't help who you love, though."

Hei then smiled, realizing that he had experienced what Kenji had felt. For the past few years after Hei had stopped the government from destroying Hell's Gate, he and Yin have been in hiding, trying everything possible to escape. No matter what happened, he refused to leave Yin alone. He had been doing all the things he had been warning Kenji about, up until the very end.

He meant what he said when he first encountered Izanami. He could not lose more people who were dear to him, and this included Yin. Izanami may have posed as a huge threat to the world, but Hei had found a solution to separate that entity from Yin.

Still, Hei remained uncertain as to whether he fully removed the threat posed by Izanami and wondered if perhaps he should have just killed Yin instead despite the devastation that would cause him. He observed the still girl in his arms.

No, killing Yin was not an option. His decision in saving her was a choice he did not regret. He admired the clear sky as he began to feel his doubt dissipating into the atmosphere.

"Hei."

Yin. He looked down and saw her. She was finally awake. Her intense purple eyes met his dark blue, and he smiled. She smiled back, without using the help of her fingers.

"Hei."

Hei was finally at peace.


End file.
